New South Wales Department of Housing v Hume

The New South Wales Department of Housing (the appellant) appealed a District Court decision that found it liable for personal injuries sustained by Ms Hume (the respondent). Ms Hume had fallen down stairs from a porch that was less than one metre high, and the absence of hand-rails was a factor in her fall. The dispute concerned the extent of the appellant's duty of care as a landlord to visitors of its rented premises.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the appellant, as a landlord, had breached its duty of care to the respondent, a visitor to the rented premises. Specifically, the court considered whether the landlord should have installed hand-rails on the porch stairs, even in the absence of a statutory obligation to do so, and whether this omission constituted a breach of the common law duty of care.

The court's reasoning focused on the scope of a landlord's duty of care in negligence. While the parties had agreed on the content of the duty at trial, the appellant sought to confine its duty to that articulated in *Jones v Bartlett*, which concerned a landlord's duty to take reasonable care that leased residential premises contained no dangerous defects. The court noted that *Jones v Bartlett* primarily dealt with the landlord's duty to tenants and their family members, and observations regarding other entrants were obiter. The court applied the principle that a landlord's duty is to take reasonable care to avoid foreseeable risk of injury, and the assessment of breach involves a factual judgment based on the standards of a reasonable person, rather than imposing a higher duty than that owed by an occupier.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, setting aside the District Court's verdict for the plaintiff. Judgment was entered for the first defendant (the appellant), and the plaintiff was ordered to pay the first defendant's costs in the District Court. The First Respondent was ordered to pay the Appellant's costs in the Court of Appeal.